Review: Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden

She wanted to stay awake, wanted to see what freedom looked like, felt like at midnight, then at the cusp of dawn.

Freedom. Mariah has barely dared to dream of it her entire life. When General Sherman’s march through Georgia during the Civil War passes the plantation where she is enslaved, her life changes instantly. Joining the march for protection, Mariah heads into the unknown, wondering if she can ever feel safe, if she will ever be able to put the brutalities of slavery behind her.

On the march Mariah meets a young man named Caleb, and a new dream takes root—one of a future with a home of her own and a true love by her side. But hope often comes at a cost. As the treacherous march continues toward the churning waters of Ebenezer Creek, Mariah sees that the harsh realities of her and her peoples’ lives will always haunt them.

When I first saw this book, I didn't know what to expect. I don't tend to gravitate toward historical fiction but this was an amazing book. This is the story of freed slaves traveling with union soldiers through the south. We learn of the trials and tribulations of these newly freed slaves and watch love bloom. But most importantly, we continue to learn that there's more to the Civil War than we're taught in school. Not all union soldiers were good men who wanted to help. Some of them hated freeing slaves. Some of those union soldier though the slaves traveling with them were a burden.

This book isn't very long. I honestly can't say more without a ton of spoilers. But PLEASE read this book even if you're not a fan of historical fiction. When you read this book, keep in mind that this book is based on a real event that happened at Ebenezer Creek. You'll never think about the Civil War the same way.

If you're interested in learning about other unknown events that took place during the Civil War, you should listed to the Uncivil Podcast. I can't recommend if enough!

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Review: Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

"Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Except really, it’s for black girls. From “bad” neighborhoods.

But Jade doesn’t need support. And just because her mentor is black doesn’t mean she understands Jade. And maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference.

Friendships, race, privilege, identity—this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face."

What a great book that smashed stereotypes in the BEST of ways.

There are some crap thoughts that people have about "urban" communities, especially communities where there are a lot of black and brown people. In those communities we assume that there are drugs, gangs, guns, prostitution, and crappy educational systems. Because we assume that those things make up the community we make assumptions about the people in those communities, the people aren't to be trust, they're up to no good, they're uneducated. Well this book killed all that.

Yes, it is true that Jade went to a mostly white school on the good side of town, let's get back to that later. I loved Renee Watson's portrayal of Jade's community and the people in it. When Jade and her best friend were discussing homework, it's possible that the work Jade was assigned at her school would better prepare her for "the real working world", but the friends work better connected her with their black culture. I also loved that Jade's friend was an amazing poet. It isn't often that we get to see black people doing anything other than sports. Moving away from Jade's BFF there was the nice man at the corner store who gave the kids extra food just because he was a nice man and they were nice kids. Jade's mom! There's this thought that single parents who work more than one job don't parent their children. This particular stereotype isn't always mean, typically the person who falls into this thought pattern feel bad for the hard working parent (normally the mom). But Jade's mom squashed that. Their schedule was kept on a white board on the fridge. Her mom was not going to let Jade wander into the world with someone she didn't know. While this mom may not have been in the house all the time, she was NOT an absentee parent and I loved it!

Now we have the life Jade lived while she was at school. Oh boy do I understand that. The amount of people who've mimicked words and phrases that I've said, or people who said they wished they could see me "pat my head like black women with a weave" is... disturbing. At a white affluent school, Jade had to make sure that she presented herself in a very specific way in order to make her time there as easy as possible. The teachers, the school its self did something very common. Every program that the school suggested Jade for was something to help "fix" her, as opposed to something that she might enjoy. I can understand where they were coming from (kind of), the school wanted to do what was best for Jade, and what they assumed was best was SAT prep, as opposed to something that encouraged her interest.

 This book was awesome. There was so much to take in here. I can't even get to it all. Do yourself a favor, read it friends! 

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